Patty's promotion: all books 99 cents

It's that time again!  Time for Patty Jansen's 99-cent book promotion.  All books are just 99 cents.  Check it out:

Direct link:  https://pattyjansen.com/promo/2-3-february-2019-99c-promo/

My own Mind Games is among the featured titles.  If you don't have a copy yet, here's your chance to get it for a buck.

These promotions are a great way to try out new (to you) authors without spending a lot of money.  Please check out the selection.  Who knows?  You might just find your new favorite author.

In the meantime, thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting indie authors like me.

Ten chapters

First ten chapters are proofread.  I've made a few minor edits along the way, too.  Can't help myself.

Clouds of Venus is permafree on Kobo again.

Everything I uploaded to PublishDrive has been approved and sent on to Google Play.  So PD has done their thing, and it's all up to GP now.  Hoping everything goes live without a hitch.

Promotion this weekend.  Stay tuned.

Chuck Yeager tweets

He tweeted about the Challenger disaster on its anniversary.

"Well, they got their publicity..."  A savage comment, but also completely fair.  The engineers warned NASA not to launch.  They did anyway.  It cost the astronauts their lives.  That's what happens when you let the suits overrule the guys who actually know how things work.  General Yeager knows what's up.

I was in fifth grade when it happened.  It was a snow day, so schools were closed and I was at home.  I saw it happen on television.  For my generation, that was our "JFK assassination" moment.  We all remember where we were and what we were doing.

I scrolled through some more of General Yeager's tweets and discovered this little gem:

That's a heck of a sentence.  "I met Orville just after I broke the sound barrier."  From the rickety Wright Flyer to the Bell X-1 in two generations.  And from dogfighting over Europe in a P-51 Mustang to posting on Twitter in a single lifetime.

I actually read General Yeager's autobiography when I was a kid.  Fascinating stuff about an amazing man.  I recommend it for anyone who wants to know some things they don't teach you in history class.

Fixed a typo

It was in Mind Games.  I was researching something for the current book and came across a missing word.  Grr...  Anyway, it's fixed, and I've uploaded the fix everywhere except PD/GP.  And I'll do that once the book is live there.

Proofing book 3 is humming along.  About a quarter of the way done, I think.

Clouds of Venus will be permafree on Kobo again soon.

Today's "wintry mix" turned out to be a total bust.  I was expecting ice and snow and all sorts of catastrophes.  Man, what a letdown.

Uploaded the trilogy to PublishDrive

I've uploaded the Free Space trilogy to PublishDrive.  In a matter of days, those books should be available on Google Play.

The pricing was a little tricky.  PD does its conversions differently from Amazon, and the result is different prices for other countries even when the U.S. price is the same.  This might be a problem as far as Amazon's price-matching and royalty rackets go.  I really don't know, though, because PD and Google Play are new to me and I'm learning the quirks the hard way.  I guess we'll see.

I'm also not sure the paragraph breaks in the blurbs are formatting correctly.  I'll have to look into that.

I've changed the background on my newsletter's landing page.  I'm still deciding on whether or not to change it on the header of the newsletter itself.

That's all for now.  It's cold and windy here, and there's a chance of snow in a few days.  Stay warm, folks.


UPDATE:  I've decided to go ahead and raise prices on PD/Google.  It sucks for Google Play customers, but I've got other things I'm dealing with right now, and I just don't want to worry about any price-related headaches.  If you don't know just how exasperating this price-matching and discounting stuff can be, go here and read about Gene's tale of woe.  For the foreseeable future, my short stories will be $1.99, the trilogy books will be $4.99, and the Wheel of Fire books will be $5.99.

UPDATE 2:  I've uploaded the Wheel of Fire books to PD.  So all my stuff is now there.  Buddy is available at Google Play, but the rest are still in various stages of review.  But I've done my part, so now I can (hopefully) put PD and Google Play out of my mind for a little while and focus on other things.

New back matter

Okay, I finally got around to uploading new-back-matter book files for the trilogy to Amazon.  Hopefully this will result in a better sell-through percentage due to the removal of the page breaks.  We'll see.

I don't even remember what the back matter in the D2D and Kobo versions is like, so I'll have to check that out.  But I'l probably replace those files, too.

And I'll need to upload the novels to PublishDrive.

I'm also going to change my newsletter landing page.  I think a darker space scene would look better than the reddish one it's go right now.

Success!

Buddy is now live on Google Play.  :D

I've added the link to the sidebar.

I've also uploaded my other two short stories to PublishDrive.  Now that I know it all works, I'll start adding the novels, too.

Thanks, PublishDrive, and thanks to Google Play, too.  Hopefully this is the start of a fruitful partnership for all of us.  :)

Table of contents is done

I got all the chapter links inserted.  They all seem to work like they're supposed to.  I'm pretty much done with formatting, I think.  Next up is the final proofread to look for typos and other goofs.

Still waiting on Buddy to show up on Google Play.  It's still "on the way" according to PublishDrive.  It's been nine days.  I'm getting concerned.

I think I've made the changes I want to some of my back matter.  I'll go ahead and upload new versions soon.

Line editing is done

Book 3 of Wheel of Fire currently sits at 126,470 words.  That includes chapter titles and asterisk breaks.

Next step is the final proofread and formatting.

I might play around with the chapter breaks a little.  Not sure all of those are exactly where I want them.

But we're close to a book launch.  :D

Update

I've decided to be a bit more cautious with PublishDrive.  I've withdrawn Buddy from all the stores I submitted it to except Google Play.  I can always add those stores later.

The uncertainty has to do with the "adult" tag.  PD wants you to use it if the book contains violence or erotic content.  I understand the erotic part, but the "violence" part is vague.  Does it mean graphic violence, or does it also mean tame stuff like what you might find in children's books?  I don't know.  I might contact them and ask them if I can't find out via other means.

Progress

I've achieved a milestone in my PublishDrive adventure.  Buddy is now live at one of the stores.  Yay!

Only one store so far.  The others are still listed as "on the way."

Anyway, patrons of Odilo can now pick it up.  Seems to be for libraries only, though, not individual customers.

But the product page looks okay, and that's the important thing.  You never know if it's going to get screwed up until the rubber hits the road.

In other news, I'm nearly done with line-editing the current book.  Soon, folks.  Soon.  :D

I could spend the rest of my life...

...watching the nuttier videos on YouTube.  I'm talking about "aliens built the pyramids" type of stuff.  Lots of it is just laughable, but some of it is just plausible enough to be fascinating.

I'm especially interested in the "ancient technology" theories.  Long-lost battery and power plant technology, for example.  Riveting stuff.

I wonder what future generations will speculate about us.

Still waiting

I'm still waiting for Buddy to go live at the various PublishDrive stores.  It's been a week and a half now since I hit the publish button.

Obviously, I'm disappointed that it's taking so long.  If making price changes is as cumbersome as publishing, then I'll have to figure out what I'm going to do as far as promotions go.

My hope is that this delay is just due to it being my first upload and they put more scrutiny on a "new" publisher.  My hope is that subsequent uploads will go faster.  We'll see.

Neat video

It's the history of Europe, or at least the boundaries and populations, from 400 B.C. to 2017.  Pretty cool stuff.

The most dramatic moment is when the Mongols show up and steamroll half the continent.  The music "hits" at the same time, adding to the effect.

It's also remarkable to note how long the Roman Empire lasted and how stable its borders were for so long.

The sweetest high

First, a disclaimer: I don't use recreational drugs, nor would I encourage anyone else to do so.  Drugs are bad, kids, okay?

Having said that, I was reading the Wikipedia article on azaleas and--as often happens to me, because I'm a curious cat--fell down the rabbit hole of links and ended up at mad honey.

That's right.  Mad honey.

It turns out that azaleas have a toxic compound in the leaves and nectar.  When the nectar--found in other rhododendrons, too--is collected by bees and made into honey, the honey takes on psychedelic properties.

I found this article about it, and the title of the article inspired the title of this blog post.  (Credit where it's due.)

Here's a video about it:

Getting there

I received an email from PublishDrive today stating that Buddy has passed their review.  Now they're sending it to the various stores.  It will be a few more days before the book is live everywhere.

This has been an interesting experience.  I wonder if this week-long delay is because it's my first time publishing with them.  I wonder if subsequent books will go faster.  Or maybe this is just the speed at which they operate.  We'll see as time goes by, I guess.

In any event, the story has leaped one hurdle, so that's good.  Once it's live and I'm able to see that things look the way they should, then I'll upload some others.

Adventures in distribution

I'm in the process of loading my books on PublishDrive.  I hit "publish" on Buddy on Monday night.  As of now, Friday evening, the story is still "in review."

The distributor said it might take two or three days.  It's been four now.  I'm starting to wonder.

I really hope it goes through soon.  I'd like my PublishDrive experience to be free of snags.  And I want to get this all done so I can put it behind me and get it off my mind.

Hoping for the best.  *fingers crossed*

New idea

Had a new idea for a series today.  Most likely, nothing will come of it.  I've got a folder full of ideas.  I jot them down whenever they occur to me.

It's nice to have these things on hand, though.  Even if I don't turn something into a book, there's always the possibility of a short story or two sprouting from that soil. 

Progress report

I'm hoping to have book 3 published this month.  I've been pretty productive on it the past few days.  I'm getting back in the groove, I think.  Sort of.

In other news, I'll be updating my back matter.  Before I do that, though, I'll be putting my stuff on PublishDrive.  I just got done submitting Buddy.  It's a new distributor for me, so there's a learning curve.  I'm taking it slow to reduce the odds of screwing up.  If all goes well and there aren't any snafus, then I'll trickle the rest of my stuff in.

The Kobo people are still awesome.  There was a glitch on my dashboard, so I emailed them about it.  They explained that it was just an internal glitch and not something the customers would see.  And now there's a banner when I log in saying they're aware of the problem and are working on it.  But that sort of candor and forthrightness is exactly what good customer service is all about.  No mysteries, no evasion, just an honest and straightforward explanation of the problem.  I love those people.

Once I publish book 3, I'll have to re-do the outline for book 4 before I start writing it.  Not looking forward to that.

Finally, thanks to everyone who purchased a copy of Hostile Planet during the promotion.  I hope you enjoy it.  :)

Patty Jansen's 99-cent book sale

It's that time again!  Patty Jansen is running her 99-cent book sale this weekend.  All books are 99 cents.  My own Hostile Planet is one of the featured selections.

Direct link:

https://pattyjansen.com/promo/5-6-january-2019-99c-promo/

These promotions are a great way to try out new authors without investing a lot of money.  Please take a look at the link and browse around.  You never know... you just might find your new favorite book.

In the meantime, thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting independent authors.

Thanks, Kobo readers!

December was one of my best ever months on Kobo.  Maybe THE best ever.  Thanks for your support, Kobo customers!  :D

Also, I'd like to mention again how much I appreciate the customer service folks at Kobo.  Whenever I have a problem or question, they respond in a timely, friendly, and helpful manner.  They're awesome folks.